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Original poster

If you voted already, did you spoil your ballot?

192 replies

HesGotHisTrombolyse · 04/07/2024 12:23

I just voted - I couldn't align with any of the parties in their current state but I felt spoiling my ballot was not the best move. So I voted. If you voted already today, did you spoil your ballot? If so, is it because you couldn't align with any of the parties 'on offer'?

OP posts:
DixonD · 04/07/2024 18:35

FudgeMcFlurry · 04/07/2024 12:32

No. Women gave their lives in the past to allow us the right to vote and I feel that spoiling my ballot would be an insult to their sacrifice.

Edited

Yes but they were pushing for the right to vote for women, I expect that also means the right NOT to vote.

tsmainsqueeze · 04/07/2024 18:40

I spoilt mine,i don't care if its read or not , i turned out ,staying home and doing nothing at all shows apathy which i certainly am not feeling .
I feel strongly about this election and have thought long and hard about my options.
Tory aside who i would never vote for ,no other party makes me have any faith that they will make any difference to mine and my family's life.
I am satisfied with what i did.

pinkchristmaspudding · 04/07/2024 19:30

naturesform · 04/07/2024 12:52

Nobody cares if you spoil your ballot. It's a pointless protest

Having worked on a count a couple of times I couldn't agree more. They literally get thrown in a pile and not looked at again. It's the people counting the votes that see what you write all over them, not the candidates. So really is pointless.

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SallyWD · 04/07/2024 20:10

pinkchristmaspudding · 04/07/2024 19:30

Having worked on a count a couple of times I couldn't agree more. They literally get thrown in a pile and not looked at again. It's the people counting the votes that see what you write all over them, not the candidates. So really is pointless.

Show quote history

Agreed, I used to do the vote counting. The only people who see a spoiled paper is some administrator who works for the council and they don't don't even bother to read what's written. It's tossed into a pile and they deal with tens of thousands of real votes.

5475878237NC · 04/07/2024 20:24

rainbowsparkle28 · 04/07/2024 12:34

I have voted. Did not spoil ballot. I just don't see the point of spoiling it, you are throwing away in my opinion one of the few opportunities you have to make some change.

Spoiling your ballot is a way to communicate political engagement AND disatisfaction with the current policies of those across the spectrum. Spoiling your ballot is literally the ONLY way to communicate this. Our sisters in suffrage would have been delighted we had the opportunity to show our disgust as part of our right to vote.

If every single woman had joined together to spoil our ballots, we'd have sent the strongest message in history.

Theweepywillow · 04/07/2024 20:28

5475878237NC · 04/07/2024 20:24

Spoiling your ballot is a way to communicate political engagement AND disatisfaction with the current policies of those across the spectrum. Spoiling your ballot is literally the ONLY way to communicate this. Our sisters in suffrage would have been delighted we had the opportunity to show our disgust as part of our right to vote.

If every single woman had joined together to spoil our ballots, we'd have sent the strongest message in history.

Show quote history

Communicate with who: literally no one gives a shit. Literally no one. Of course the suffragettes would not be delighted you didn’t vote. As that’s all it is. You didn’t bother voting.

upinaballoon · 04/07/2024 20:29

NeedWineNow · 04/07/2024 16:43

I voted and always have. This is the first time I have felt politically adrift, however, as none of the main players fill me with any encouragement of a better future. We do however have an extremely good (Tory) MP who is very responsive and proactive with regard to local issues so I voted for him.

Does anyone else think that if Starmer gets in he'll be facing a leadership battle with Angela Rayner within the year, because that's my feeling.

I wouldn't be surprised.

upinaballoon · 04/07/2024 20:32

ginasevern · 04/07/2024 14:14

No. I didn't spoil my ballot paper because I'm not five years old and I have no desire to scribble nonsense when I have the power of a hard won democratic vote. I also know that parties do not take notice. This is a wearisome mantra that amounts to utter bullshit. Someone is going to win the election even if you paint your arse red and pretended to be a horse at the polling station, so you might as well vote for a party or an independent that roughly aligns with your values. You can't just cop out of choosing the country's leaders unless you have a solid contingency plan such as standing for election yourself. Painting pictures on your ballot paper is not a contingency plan and it achieves fuck all.

Edited

Thanks for the laugh!

Chartreux · 04/07/2024 20:36

flipent · 04/07/2024 12:48

You are making your voice heard, you are saying that the candidates are not good enough and that it common in many constituencies.

Turning up and spoiling your ballet is better than sitting at home and abstaining.

Unless you are in a marginal constituency, you aren't making your voice heard by anyone except some unfortunate vote counter, who will forget about it within seconds. For all the myths round here about every candidate scrutinising the spoiled votes, it just doesn't happen unless the result actually comes down to a very few votes either way.

fedupdontknowwheretoputmyself · 04/07/2024 20:36

I spoiled my ballot paper. I wrote a small list of what I thought about each party and a sad face too :(

Chartreux · 04/07/2024 20:38

NeedWineNow · 04/07/2024 16:43

I voted and always have. This is the first time I have felt politically adrift, however, as none of the main players fill me with any encouragement of a better future. We do however have an extremely good (Tory) MP who is very responsive and proactive with regard to local issues so I voted for him.

Does anyone else think that if Starmer gets in he'll be facing a leadership battle with Angela Rayner within the year, because that's my feeling.

No chance. They've seen how disastrous that has been over the last few years.

icebearforpresident · 04/07/2024 20:49

I voted this time and put my X in the box, however I have spoiled my ballot in the past. The first European election after the brexit vote I wrote CONSERVATIVES SHOULD BE ASHAMED beside the Tory candidate. I may not have voted for a candidate that time but I took part in democracy and feel strongly that it should be punishable by law (realistically a fine) if you do not vote in elections but that ballots should have an abstain option on them.

I also know from a previous employer whose parent is a councillor and has who attended the count himself that the candidates do look at the spoiled ballots, so effective or not my voice was heard.

Theweepywillow · 04/07/2024 21:40

icebearforpresident · 04/07/2024 20:49

I voted this time and put my X in the box, however I have spoiled my ballot in the past. The first European election after the brexit vote I wrote CONSERVATIVES SHOULD BE ASHAMED beside the Tory candidate. I may not have voted for a candidate that time but I took part in democracy and feel strongly that it should be punishable by law (realistically a fine) if you do not vote in elections but that ballots should have an abstain option on them.

I also know from a previous employer whose parent is a councillor and has who attended the count himself that the candidates do look at the spoiled ballots, so effective or not my voice was heard.

Do you not understand abstaining and not voting are one and the same thing, as is spoiling your vote, it is all abstaining,

Notsure31 · 04/07/2024 22:13

Singleandproud · 04/07/2024 12:54

I spoilt my ballot, drew a line through the boxes and wrote" Women = Adult human female, Keep single sex spaces" across the ballot.

I would never not vote because women died to have the opportunity to vote. I used that opportunity to express that no party represented me. That I could be bothered to vote, and would have voted for a party but did not feel able too.

By spoiling my ballot and not voting for one of the two parties (Conservatives and Reform) that align with my most pressing concern then I am not condoning the rest of their policy's that I do not support and think are horrific. I don't want to be a bystander watching those things happening and know that I played a part.

In the past I've normally voted for Lib Dems or Greens - which generally may as well be a spoilt ballot in my area.

Edited

This.

coastalhawk · 04/07/2024 22:18

No, what a pointless thing to do. These are disregarded and never looked at again

bathofbeans · 04/07/2024 22:27

I voted.

I'd rather vote for a government that is going to help ordinary people then spend my efforts lobbying, with others, to draw attention to the problems with ignoring the current equality act.

bathofbeans · 04/07/2024 22:29

Does anyone read and note down the reasons written on a spoilt ballot?

bathofbeans · 04/07/2024 22:30

. . . or are they just chucked in the 'spoilt' pile, along with the one's with cock and balls drawn on?

Maddy70 · 04/07/2024 22:30

No thats such a waste. I voted labour

Talkwhilstyouwalk · 04/07/2024 22:32

No. I voted. Even though none of them appealed to me and it was for what I believe is the best of a bad bunch....

raspberryberet7 · 04/07/2024 23:03

FudgeMcFlurry · 04/07/2024 12:32

No. Women gave their lives in the past to allow us the right to vote and I feel that spoiling my ballot would be an insult to their sacrifice.

Edited

Nailed it

NoWordForFluffy · 04/07/2024 23:07

bathofbeans · 04/07/2024 22:30

. . . or are they just chucked in the 'spoilt' pile, along with the one's with cock and balls drawn on?

They're checked and put into categories of the type of spoil.

Snugglemonkey · 05/07/2024 00:43

Kpo58 · 04/07/2024 12:48

I wish that there was a none of the above option on a ballot paper for showing protest votes.

Me too. I wrote it on, but it just is not the same.

Theweepywillow · 05/07/2024 08:37

Oh well as predicted no one gives a shit about the spoiled ballots. Would have been a first if they had, just wasted votes.as Usual

Jobsharenightmare · 05/07/2024 14:13

Theweepywillow · 05/07/2024 08:37

Oh well as predicted no one gives a shit about the spoiled ballots. Would have been a first if they had, just wasted votes.as Usual

Well yes. But imagine if 51% of the population had spoiled their ballots.